Pâtisserie Sans Frontières

Neater puff pastry tart shell – collapsed sides system! :)

Yes, the ‘collapsed sides system’ was an accident. But it’s great! I know there are probably other ways to get the same result but this method does produce a relatively neat puff pastry shell you can top with lovely yummy stuff. You can see the difference with the very little tart behind there that wasn’t baked in a tart ring.

This was the first prototype, where the border is slightly thicker because the tart ring was a little higher.

The texture and flavour comes out like the pastry layer in a millefeuille, aka puff pastry vanilla slice. If you top with cream and fruit and close your eyes you feel like you’re eating a millefeuille!

RECIPE

Use homemade inverted puff pastry if possible. Good-quality shop-bought all-butter puff pastry should also work (I’ll have to try). Follow my instructions for lining a French tart ring. Trim the sides along the top with a small sharp knife, as shown at the end of the tart ring post in the ‘neater edges’ section. Prick all over with a fork, making sure the holes go through to the bottom. Cover almost completely with fork pricks, also on the sides!

Freeze overnight on the baking tray. This is handy if you want to spend less time making your tart on the day.

Bake around10-12 minutes. The sides should collapse and the middle of the tart will probably puff up, so after the 10-12 minutes prick all around with a fork (but not the collapsed sides) so it flattens a bit.

Bakeanother 10 minutes. Prick all over again if necessary.

Bake a further 5 to 15 minutes (depending on your oven) until the pastry is light golden brown and completely done. The total baking time is around 25 to 35 minutes.

Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before topping. Note: if some part of the sides is a little uneven you can probably use a fork to prick it down a little.

Tada! A puff pastry tart shell where the sides collapsed very nicely thank you. So I guess this page also deals with the question ‘What do I do if the sides of my puff pastry tarts collapse?’ Um … make the sides even so they’ll collapse evenly (lol), accept it, adapt and shout ‘hurray’! 🙂

Lovely stuff you guys made from the blog!

Lovely brioche rolls made by Annette in New Zealand! ‘They turned out really well thanks, my boys certainly enjoyed them, all gone now!’ she reports. But be careful – she noticed that if you don’t use invert sugar or honey but just caster sugar, you’ll need to add a little extra water.

A fantastic slice of Apple tarte tatin with Chinese 5 spices and Tamarind by Claudette, aka mum! :) It was very nice and using maple syrup is ‘genius’ she reports. The Pink Lady apples used were ‘lovely, juicy and firm’ and cooked on the ring a little over 10 mins. Plus the pastry browned quite quickly so was covered with foil towards the end.

Extremely tasty-looking Lamingtons by Annette in New Zealand. Lovely and moist even without cream inside, she reports. So tempting piled up on that pretty plate. Yum!

Scrumptious orange & rum fruitcake-cake Anglais by Stéphanie in Tahiti ‘This cake is just delicious :) I brought one in the office today and it just vanished in a few minutes! Every one loved it :)’ she reports. Lovely local rum, vanilla, honey!

A beautiful orange and rum fruitcake-cake Anglais fruitcake made by Dookes! Looks moist and delicious! Dookes’ comments: ‘seriously good!’ and ‘fantastico’!! You can find the guest post recipe at http://wp.me/p2sQo3-US And Dookes’ cake report is at https://hogriderdookes.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/lilis-biker-cake-made-and-tasted/ on his Hogrider Dookes blog.

A stunning Gâteau Moka by Kate in Cornwall. The piping is wonderful and she was very pleased with it. She also mentions the cake was delish! :)

A delicious seed and nut loaf made by Claudette in London. She reports ‘cannot stop eating it … it is really delicious’ And she used more pumpkin than sunflower seeds and a little chestnut flour too.

Yummy wholemeal spelt croissants by Dookes. Very well-shaped and nicely risen too! ‘For a first attempt I have to say I’m pretty pleased. They certainly pass the taste test’ says Dookes.

A fabulous Raspberry charlotte by Kate! Loads of raspberries and great sponge finger casing! The assembly part was actually really easy! and ‘it tasted amazing’ she says, adding it ‘will definitely become a regular pudding in our household!’

What I made at the Cordon Bleu in Paris

Almond cake – Pavé d’amandes

Gateau Mogador

Baba au rhum – rum baba

Pithiviers

Éclairs and chouquettes

Gateau Basque

Savoury petits fours with inverted puff pastry

Diamants

Raspberry and anis macarons

Triomphe aux noix – caramel walnut mousse cake

Passion fruit and raspberry tart

Gateau Moka

Viennoiserie – croissants, brioches, pains au chocolat

Dacquoise

Le Fraisier

Le Jamaique – passion fruit and coconut mousse cake

Cake and Madeleines

Tartelettes au chocolat and à l’orange

Croquembouche

Entremets passionata – passionfruit and raspberry mousse cake

Milk chocolates – muscadines and pralinés

Opera cake

Apricot streusel tart with puff pastry

Pear Charlotte

Plating a rapsberry and anis macaron with raspberry coulis and anis cream